As the sun
shone over Oak Meadow, a solid batting performance and
a fine bowling display earned the WSL Sunday XI their
second win of the season against the veterans of Farley
Hill.
Put in to bat by the Farley
skipper, Waltham openers Connor
and Harris strode to the sawdust strewn strip in determined
mood. However, the opening partnership was not a large
one, as Connor soon departed, offering a simple catch
off the bowling of Shaw. Bridgman joined Harris at the
crease, and soon Harris was off the mark and steadily
compiling runs.
Bridgeman decided that, for
the time being, scoring was too much effort, and happily
saw out 4 maiden overs from Shaw, with the (very) occasional
scoring delivery at the other end. Finally, in Shaw’s
sixth over, Ady exploded dispatching the first ball
to the boundary for 4, and the last ball over the boundary
for 6 – a repeat of a previous over he had faced at
the other end. Finally Bridgeman’s vigil at the crease
was ended by Shaw, having put on 23 of 58 runs for the
second wicket in 37 balls. Well, actually in 6 balls,
but the dots count too…
Harris was
still batting well when joined at the crease by Dan
Owen, and was preparing to loosen his shoulders and
accelerate his innings when he arrived to play a shot
slightly before the ball and scooped it back to the
grateful bowler. A good 45 from Harris equalled his
high score of the season, but he was understandably
disappointed not to have converted it into to the 50s
or higher.
Rockell joined Owen in the
middle, and though the boundaries more-or-less dried
up, Don and Dan kept the scoreboard ticking over, before
Owen was bowled on 19 putting WSL at 111-4, entirely
due to those in the pavilion not lifting a foot off
the floor. Four wickets soon became five as stand-in-skipper
Andy Smith drove a ball not-quite-high-enough over mid-off’s
head, and departed for a two ball duck off a very good
catch. Again, those in the pavilion were entirely at
fault for not respecting the Nelson.
Paul Gearing
had a brief cameo, launching one ball for six before
missing one and losing his stumps, before Ziggy Kiani
(with mind firmly set on tea) shepherded Rockell to
another 9 runs before departing to a stumping off Guard.
Batting out of your crease is all very well and good,
but it helps if you ground your bat when it goes to
the ‘keeper. Rockell was joined by Gordon Hill, but
soon departed to give Ghulam the opportunity to swing
the bat around for the last couple of overs, until he
was bowled by Moylan for 5, leaving specialist number
11 Rob Tidbury to block the final two deliveries, leaving
the home team with an almost par 153-9, with Hill the
other not-out batsman on 5.
After a
fine tea Taz Ghulam, fresh from 5 wickets the previous
day, shared the new ball with Paul Harris, and some
fine bowling from both rewarded Taz with his sixth wicket
of the weekend with the score still on 0, caught at
slip by Paul “Ball Magnet” Gearing. Bridgman replaced
Harris after 3 overs, and was soon among the wickets,
clean bowling Pauley for 4. A shrewd bit of field placement
– Gearing at short fine leg – blocked off Guard’s favourite
shot, and Taz took full advantage of his frustration,
gaining another wicket in the process.
Ghulam was
replaced by Gearing at the pavilion end, who promptly
joined in the party with a wicket of his own, before
collecting his second catch of the day at slip off Bridgman.
Next to go was Moylan, caught at mid off to an awesome
catch from Harris off Ady’s bowling, to give him his
third wicket. Bridgman was promptly replaced by hard-hearted
skipper Andy Smith after 6 very fine overs, and while
Smith toiled away with no reward Gearing made merry
adding two more wickets to his total – one caught to
another stunning catch from Harris and another to an
equally impressive catch from Ghulam at slip. Gearing,
clearly feeling his age after a mere 6 overs, was replaced
by the spin of Kiani, and carefully positioned himself
close in on the leg side to gratefully accept his third
catch of the day. Dudding, Kiani’s victim, was head
to remark “You’re Joking” after spooning the ball in
PG’s direction.
The twin spin of Smith and
Kiani failed to break the final wicket partnership,
so it was left to Ghulam to return to the pavilion end
and break the last vestiges of Farley Hill’s resistance,
and finish with excellent figures of 3-14.
An 82 run win was a good reward for yet another
fine fielding display from Waltham,
with all but one catching opportunities taken, and an
excellent display of seam and swing bowling. Many thanks
to Farley Hill for an enjoyable game played, as always,
in excellent spirit. We look forward to bringing the
attack to your ground at the end of July! |